NHS and social care staff face burnout emergency

Workforce burnout across the NHS and social care has reached an emergency level, posing a risk to the future functioning of these services, finds a recent report from Parliament’s cross-party health and social care select committee.

The committee’s report, Workforce burnout and resilience in the NHS and social care, calls for a total overhaul of workforce planning. This, it says, should be driven by the level of demand and the staffing capacity needed to service it rather than funding.

Staff are facing unacceptable pressure with chronic excessive workload and are burning out as a result, it found. 

“NHS and social care staff are at breaking point,” said Christina McAnea, general secretary of the UNISON public services union. “The pandemic’s taken a serious toll on their mental health, and there’s no let-up in sight.” She called on prime minister Boris Johnson to “act now” to award a pay rise to attract new people to the NHS and stop the exodus of existing staff. She also called for an overhaul of social care wages.

RCN nursing union acting general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen said the forthcoming Bill on health and social care integration provides an opportunity to address burnout.

The government is due to respond to the report next month.

https://committees.parliament.uk/work/494/workforce-burnout-and-resilience-in-the-nhs-and-social-care/publications